I was firmly in the no-pre-wash camp, mostly because I think limp fabric is much harder to work with. But I decided to wash my batiks (took 3 afternoons with the ironing), and something in the orange/gold range bled on each of the washloads. I did use a color catcher, but stopped at just the one warm wash/rinse cycle. The good ones ironed up pretty much like new. I never expect a finely woven fabric to shrink, and this has been my experience. The cruder, heavier batiks will shrink like any other loosly woven fabric.